Post Bootcamp Maintenance - Nutrition

As bootcamp comes to an end this week I was asked to write a little something about how to maintain a healthy balanced diet in the long term that is less restrictive than the one that my bootcampers have been following.

First of all I would ask you to consider how you feel now, having cut those things from your diet, do you feel fitter and healthier with more energy? If the answer is yes than maybe you should consider sticking to your new diet long term - I promise you will feel awesome!

I understand that is not for everybody though so here are some tips......

1. Designate a "Cheat" meal or even a cheat day during which you eat anything and everything.

2. Gently re-introduce a little dairy or wheat into your diet and see how you feel, keeping it in moderation and hopefully really enjoying and appreciating it when you have it.

3. You could try a basic form of carb-cycling where you have carb days where you allow yourself moderate amounts of pasta and bread etc, and no-carb days where you eat super clean. A week could be alternate days with a cheat meal on a Saturday night.

4. When you do your weekly shop only buy a small block of cheese (or other banned substance that tastes nice!) and make it last for the week, maybe enjoying a small amount daily, and when you run out you are not allowed any until next week.

5. Eat bad foods and carbs within 1 hour of exercise as your body is more likely to use the food for muscle repair and recovery rather than store it as fat.

6. By all means start drinking coffee again, but keep it under control, so you don't rely on it. 1 cup per day should be fine and don't sweeten it. Try and have at least one day off the black stuff per week, or try a more mellow option like green tea which is pretty good for aiding weight loss too.

7. Booze will always make you fat without fail so steer clear wherever possible. Choose when you want to drink and enjoy it guilt free, but don't slip into the habit of another drink in the evening just for the sake of it or due to habit.

I hope these pointers help you out post-bootcamp as I want all of my bootcampers to stay fit and healthy and education is key if you are going to achieve this.

As a point of interest I personally eat a Paleolithic diet which is pretty strict and I have never felt healthier, fitter or leaner in my life and I am a ripe old 31 now! To me it does not feel a chore to miss out grains and dairy 90% of the time as I feel so good compared to when I used to load up on pasta and rice and feel bloated lethargic. I really feel that this is how humans were designed to eat and I would encourage you all to investigate it for yourselves and ask me if you have any questions. I particularly recommend you read a book called "The Paleo Solution" by Robb Wolf. It is amazing and could change your life!

Stay Strong

Ben

Cauliflower Rice Recipe Video

On Monday I promised my bootcampers that I would go viral, and here it is..... my first cookery video EVER. I hope you enjoy it!

Stay Strong

Ben

Tasty Breakfast Idea

Here is a great idea for a healthy, filling and highly nutritious breakfast especially for anybody avoiding wheat and dairy who also loves cereal!

Blueberries

Strawberries

Raw Walnuts

Raw Almonds

Cinnamon

UNSWEETENED Almond Milk

Chuck it in a bowl and off you go! Simples.

Stay Strong

Ben

Strength Training Session 2

Last night I did my second strength training session, this time focussing on bench press.

5 x 65kg

5 x 75kg

Max reps x 85kg - 9 Reps

5 x 15 DB Chest Press 22kg

5 x 10 DB Single Arm Row 30kg

This workout was not too taxing as it is still week 1 of the programme. Today I am going to do some cardio and conditioning with kettlebells and bodyweight exercises, before the Squat workout on Friday.

Stay Strong

Ben

Stress - Deal with it!

We all get stressed. Sometimes for a few minutes when we can't find the keys, sometimes for a few days whilst we wait for some big news, and sometimes it seems never ending, and all consuming.

Without wanting to stress you out. Stress is what is killing people in the modern, developed world. It is the endless hours of work, the pressure to succeed and have all the trappings and belongings that reflect your wealth and status. The first thing you need to do is realise that you are stressed. Simple. Now think about why and write a list...... Money? Work? Health? Family?

That is the first step and without it you can't control and reduce the stress in your life.

There are some things that are just out of your control and you need to try not to worry about them because you cannot affect the outcome. Write them down and tell yourself verbally, out loud (like a crazy person) to cast them aside and focus on the things you can control. That is the key word here, CONTROL. You should be in control or your stress, not the other way around. You can then set about dealing with the other stressors in your life.

Without going all Peter Pan on you, it is also a good idea to have a "happy place" to go to either physically or mentally where you can think things over. When I lived in Kent this would always be the beach where I could sit down and think about things whilst chucking some stones in the water. Take some time and go for a walk and think things through. There is nearly always a solution to your problems and sometimes you just need to take 5, and rationalise things in your head without the distractions of day to day life.

"It's good to talk." Your friends and family can usually offer you plenty of support so talk things over with them. They may have some great suggestions, or they may just tell you that you are being silly (a bit of tough love!), but either way you will feel better.

Finally, eat good, clean low carb foods and don't turn to the biscuits and cake (or booze) as you will just end up feeling worse and getting fat!

Why should you listen to me though? What do I know? Fair point..........

I would say that I am very good at dealing with stress personally, and I understand how it affects people including many of my clients. I am only 31 but have endured some pretty stressful times, particularly commanding my own patrol base in a remote area of Afghanistan with sole responsibility for each of the 70 soldiers' lives who lived there with me. Now that WAS stressful, but I dealt with it well and helped the people around me deal with some pretty difficult situations too.

I hope this helps some of you in some little way.

Stay Strong

Ben

5-3-1

This week I have started a classic 5-3-1 strength programme that I am going to follow for a few months to get my strength up in all of the key lifts: Deadlift, Squat, Military Press and Bench.

If all goes to plan I will reach my 200kg deadlift goal by September, and I will be pretty pleased with myself too! The programme is taken from the T-Nation website, and is super simple to use and follow, just a little maths to work out your weights.

Yesterday I tested my 1RM for the press and came up with a disappointing 62.5kg, which is hardly surprising as I don't often do it!

Today I started in vain with a deadlift workout that went like this:

Warm up

5 x 105kg

5 x 120kg

Rep out at 138kg - I managed 9.

Supporting exercises were 100 metres of walking lunges and 5 sets of hanging leg raises.

Short and Sweet. It feels like I should be doing more, but I am going to trust the programme and moderate my work to get maximum results.

Stay Strong

Ben

Strength Programme Needed

For a while I have been making some good strength gains in the gym , particularly focussing on deadlift, which I really enjoy. I seem to have hit a plateau at 180kg, and really want to pull up a 200kg lift some time this summer so I am going to write myself a strength programme incorporating deadlift, rack pull, and front squat so I can start to make some progress again. I will post it on here maybe with some pics when I get started.

Stay Strong

Ben

Caffeine is like Crack

Yes, I admit it, I LOVE coffee, and have graduated over the years from cheap instant with lots of milk and sugar (glorified coffee milkshake!) to strong dark filter coffee without milk or sugar and I look forward to it every time. Coffee is my crack cocaine and it is the hardest part of my diet to control and moderate. I can walk past Dunkin Donuts, or the fish and chip shop and stay strong, but if I have been working hard, feel a little slow or tired or need a pick me up to train, then coffee is hard to beat.

I am also fully aware of the negative effects that caffeine dependence due to lack of sleep and chronic stress can have on your health and also your weight. It all stems back to a hormone called cortisol, known to many as the "Stress Hormone" as our bodies secrete it in times of stress, originally to fuel our fight or flight instincts. Cortisol, in turn raises our blood sugars, and decreases our insulin sensitivity, leading to an increase in fat storage around our bellies. Basically stress releases insulin which makes us fat. Simples!

So, how does caffeine tie in here? Often when working and partying hard we do not get enough quality sleep, which, when combined with the stresses of work, money and family life means that we live in this cycle of fatigue, dependant on stimulants like caffeine to keep us going and that mask the truth - YOU ARE TIRED ALL OF THE TIME AND NEED TO ADJUST YOUR LIFESTYLE. To further add to the argument, consuming caffeine also has a detrimental effect on the quality of your sleep, further fuelling the fire.

Currently my bootcampers are in week one and trying to cut out caffeine in all of its forms, and they are finding it hard work. If you are a hardened coffee drinker then going cold turkey will leave you like Ewan MacGregor in Trainspotting, so it is best to cut it out over the course of a week or maybe change to a low-caffeine coffee for a few days before cutting it totally. Once off of the caffeine you will experience better sleep, and improved response to stress, and potentially less fat storage around your tummy.

Remember if you don't try it, you will never know! Cut out the coffee and go to bed early.......

Stay Strong

Ben

FREE Bootcamp T-Shirts!!

The awesome new Ravenscourt Park Bootcamp T-Shirts have just arrived and look good. Come along to bootcamp and you may be lucky enough to score yourself a freebie! It would be good to hear your feedback too guys, let me know what you think.

Stay Strong

Ben